J.F. Labbe is probably the best minor-league goalie I've seen, and certainly the greatest in Syracuse Crunch history.

He's played overseas since the 2003-04 season, but now he's back in North America with Flint of the IHL.

I thought he was coming back to make one last push at age 37, but when I spoke with him on Monday he said nope, not true.

First, Labbe has twins who are just starting school, so he wants to get them all set up over here. Secondly, two of his good buddies, Pascal Rheaume and Tony Tuzzolino, are expected to play for Flint, and he wants to finish up his twilight season with his friends.

"I'm going there to have a good time,'' he said. "I didn't really try to find any (other) place. I was like, oh, that's a good spot to finish.''

Labbe kicked aside any notion that he might be able to prove himself worthy of another AHL run.

"No, no, no. I'm not looking for that,'' he said. "I don't really care about that stuff. We'll play this year, have a good time, and see about next year.''